1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the art of forming protective layers or liners in or on surfaces. In particular, this invention relates to the art of forming in situ protective liners in truck beds and the like.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
It is known to provide wear resistant liners for vehicle surfaces. For example, truck beds are commonly provided with protective inserts which guard the beds against damage from impact and frictional wear. A conventional bed liner for pickups and light trucks is a well known example of these structures. These bed liners include preformed plastic liners which are manufactured to fit specific vehicles and in situ formed liners. The in situ formed liners are applied as mastics, i.e., by spray coating, which harden to form a tightly bonded protective coating on the surface to which they are applied.
The following U.S. patents are incorporated by reference herein: U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,363,617, 5,308,133, 5,814,398, 5,925,466 and 6,076,879.
The present invention permits an indicia in the form of, a relief to be easily applied to a vehicle or other surface and incorporated as a part of an in situ formed bed liner, for example. Typically, the preferred location for the indicia has an irregular surface and presents difficulties in creating and/or attaching a durable and aesthetically pleasing relief. Applying an indicia after a bed liner has been formed presents additional problems. It is difficult to get a secure attachment of a separate indicia to the outer surface of an in situ formed bed liner. The present invention solves these and other problems, as disclosed herein, by providing mating shapes for the relief which permit the relief to conform to the surface to which it is applied.
The reliefs of the invention may be formed by conventional fabrication processes and can be joined to the desired surface by conventional fastening structures, including fasteners, adhesives and tapes. The mating shapes provided for the relief allow the relief to be easily and quickly positioned and installed on its associated surface. When the relief is installed, the bed liner can be formed, for example by coating. The coating encapsulates the relief forming a durable and attractive indicia in the bed liner.
It is thus an object of the invention to provide a relief in an in situ formed bed liner. It is a further object of the invention to produce a relief which has associated structure to mate with the surfaces of a vehicle bed. It is another object to encapsulate a relief in the coating of an in situ formed bed liner to form an embedded relief in the substrate of the bed liner. It is also an object of the invention to form a relief which can be incorporated in an in situ formed bed liner. Other objects and features of the invention will be in part apparent and in part pointed out hereinafter.
The invention summarized above comprises the constructions hereinafter described, the scope of the invention being indicated by the subjoined claims.